They have consistently censored my speech and I find that very disturbing for a group that prides itself on being open to new ideas and the spread of freedom and free speech. I still support the idea of moving to New Hampshire to build a free community but that can and is being done without the need for an over reaching group of dictators telling us what to think or post.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Does the U.S. government have a right to bomb Syria? It’s painfully obvious that it has no such right. It’s painful because it looks like it’s going to bomb anyway.

Not one of the arguments that attempts to show that the U.S. has a right to bomb Syria holds up upon examination. The preemptive or preventive idea has reappeared. This idea is that if there is a threat to U.S. national security (or interests), the U.S. has a right to remove that threat before it becomes a reality. That argument is an argument for self-defense. It is valid only if the threat is tangible and imminent. In this case, there is no tangible or imminent threat that the Syria government can or will unleash chemical weapons on America, American embassies or American forces. There is no intelligence to that effect. Moreover, the Syrian government has made no such threats.

The pro-bombing advocates argue that they do not want chemical weapons to fall into the hands of anti-American forces other than Syrians. There is also no direct, tangible and imminent threat of an attack from this source. This possibility is a threat of a threat. Only if the weapons first fell into hostile hands might they then possibly become a threat. This argument is twice-removed from being an actual threat and being an actual candidate for a rightful self-defense.

Ever since the public disclosure of the NSA's surveillance programs by former contractor Edward Snowden, Microsoft, Google and many other companieshave called on the government to allow them to disclose the extent of their cooperation so that customers and foreign governments can make informed decisions about the trustworthiness of the companies' services.

Smith says in the blog that both Microsoft and Google filed suit in June for permission to disclose the information, and they believe they have the clear constitutional right to do so. On 6 occasions the government has asked for extensions from the court before replying to the suit.